Judge: Protesters Can’t Be Forced To Take Down ‘86 47’ Flag

The free speech crowd really doesn’t like it when anyone who doesn’t agree with them exercises their right to free speech. Racial slurs are A-OK, but you better shut your damn mouth if you’re going to criticize President Donald Trump and weirdos who support him. The National Park Service (NPS) took issue with a group of protesters who had a permit to set up near the George Meade Statue in Washington, D.C., for waving a flag that read “86 47.” While the NPS attempted to revoke its permit over the flag, a federal judge blocked that effort on Monday. 

According to the New York Times, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss found that the advocacy group Accountability Now USA was engaging in constitutionally protected speech by waving the “86 47” flag. Accountability Now USA and the NPS have been at odds for several months over the flag and several other signs. “The government seeks to squelch core political speech without any articulable — much less evidentiary — basis for concluding that the speech actually threatens the life or safety of the President,” Moss wrote in his opinion.

“Under these circumstances, it is difficult to fathom how the N.P.S. (or the Secret Service) could have concluded that a reasonable observer would view the flag as a true threat,” Moss added. “The term ‘86’ is used far more often to mean ‘throw out’ than ‘kill,’ and it appeared at a demonstration that was focused, of all things, on the constitutional impeachment and ‘removal’ of the president.”

The Hill reports that the NPS and Accountability Now USA are in a separate legal battle over whether signs displayed by the advocacy group represent unprotected obscenity. Moss has yet to rule in that matter. 

There are many strange things about Trump’s second term, with the politicization of the NPS being one of them. One of the first executive orders Trump signed upon taking office focused on removing “improper ideology” from our national museums and parks. As a result of that order, the NPS removed Harriet Tubman from its website, removed a Pride flag from the freaking Stonewall National Monument, the removal of a memorial to the slaves owned by George Washington at the President’s House in Philadelphia, and now we have the NPS actively being used to try to squash free speech on public lands. 

Luckily, all those moves have been reversed either due to backlash or court order, but the fact that they keep trying it shows you where the NPS’s priorities are under the Trump administration. 

I’m curious what, if any, impact Moss’ ruling may have on former FBI Director James Comey’s case. Charges were filed against Comey in April for making threats against the president over an Instagram post that showed a group of seashells organized to read “86 47.” 

What I find interesting is that the protesters made their “86 47” flag and consistently waved it near the Capitol despite being asked by the NPS not to. Comey posted some seashells on Instagram, quickly removed the post when the photo’s implication was raised with him, and issued an apology. That does not give the impression of a man who actually intended to harm the President. 

While Moss’ ruling is a victory for free speech, the real test will come when and if Comey goes to trial for his post. 

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Judge Rules Protesters Can’t Be Forced To Take Down ‘86 47’ Flag was originally published on newsone.com